At Home Obstacle Course

Our culture is fascinated by obstacle courses.  Flip on the television and people are spinning, leaping, and swinging and the public is watching. I teach college students and the hardest class that I have them do is an obstacle course, but it is also the class that students most often request.  Even my five year-old loves bike and scooter obstacle courses that run through our driveway.  
 
Obstacle courses offer variety, short durations with activities, and you set your own pace, which combine to allow individuals to feel successful and challenged. It is also why they are great for children, but most people think you need a bounce house and spinning water feature for a fun kid's obstacle course, which could not be further from the truth. You can create an obstacle course using household items, kids games and basic exercises to get the whole family moving.  Below are different ideas that could be strung together all over the house and yard, but you can also be creative and make up challenges that appeal to you and your children.

Get up off the couch:
Every time you sit and stand, you are actually doing a squat.  For adults, using a seat is great practice on squat form, as it forces you to put your weight back, and for children, it may turn into a jumping exercise, but it gets them moving!

Walk the plank:
No pirates involved, but encourage balance by making a challenge that asks them to walk the length of one deck plank. 

Hop to it:
Challenge your children to draw their own hopscotch board on the driveway that they must use to get to their next challenge.

Feel like you're just hanging out?
Have a tree climbing or branch hanging contest to work out the upper body.

Stumped for other challenges?
Have a stump in your yard? Make a challenge jumping on and off of it or leap frogging over it.  If you have any large logs, cut them into differing heights and have kids jump from one to another. 

Sacked out yet?
Use old pillow cases for a sack race.  Want more of a challenge?  Let them hop up a hill!

Feel like you are being dumped on?
If you have a little boy, you probably have a truck that can hold body weight.  Make one activity to do a lap pushing it around the yard.  They will get a kick out of you doing it, and you can get bonus points for making truck sounds.  Big wheels and little bikes will also work well. 

You could even make this into an indoor, rainy day, get-out-the-energy activity:

Everyone is crabby:
Adults hate crab walking, but kids love it.  Have them do it across the floor or as another way to get upstairs.

On a roll:
Have a twin size bed?  Have your kids stand beside it and then roll across it, so that their legs go into the air, making them ready to land on the opposite side.  Sound unsafe and or like something that you told them not to do?  It is a move used by one of the top trainers in the nation!

Jump out of bed:
With their heals against the bed, have them roll back, as if they were going to do a backward summersault, but when their head touch, roll forward again, drop the feet and jump up.  Want to make it harder?  Do it on the floor!

Pile it on:
Use a soft, old rug that slides easily to allow them push it across the slippery floor with their hands.  As that is no problem for adults, try putting your toes on it and pulling your body behind as your hands walk across the floor.  You will remember that one tomorrow!

Keep your fun under wraps:
Put a blanket across the space between your couch and coffee table and have everyone crawl through the tunnel without touching.   

High five a job well-done:
Children can try plank or even do it on hands and knees while adults are in plank, but stand far enough a part so that you can meet in the middle to slap hands.

Whether you pull out the hoola-hoops, jump ropes, basket or soccer ball, make sure that you move forward, backward, and side-to-side and do not limit yourself to the prescribed use of an item.  My personal training clients know that they will squeeze a foam ball between their legs whiling jumping up and down and that a hoola-hoop twirled around one arm while standing on one leg is a full-body workout, but one that cannot help but make you feel young.  If it feels silly or you forgot that you were exercising, then know that you have probably crafted a good obstacle course....and found a great way to be active with your children.